BBC - History - Edward VIII z Edward VIII © The only British sovereign to abdicate voluntarily, Edward stepped down in 1936 to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. He was king for less than a year. Edward was born on 23 June 1894 in Richmond, Surrey, the eldest child of the duke of York. He was always known in his family as David, one of many middle names. In 1910, Edward's father became George V and Edward, prince of Wales. He joined the Grenadier Guards in World War One, although he was not allowed to see active service. Throughout the 1920s, Edward undertook extensive foreign tours particularly in the empire, representing his father. These tours, together with Edward's visits to areas of high unemployment and deprivation in Britain during the economic depression of the early 1930s, made Edward very popular. Edward had affairs with a number of married women in the 1920s, but then met and fell in love with Wallis Simpson, the wife of an American businessman. In January 1936, George V died and Edward became king.

In October, Wallis Simpson was granted a divorce from her husband, and it became clear that the new king wished to marry her, against the advice of many of his advisors who did not believe that Edward, as head of the Church of England, should marry a divorced woman. All attempts to find a solution failed and so, on 10 December, Edward signed an instrument of abdication. The following day, after broadcasting to the nation and the empire to explain his actions, he left for Europe. Edward's brother became George VI. In June 1937, Edward married Wallis Simpson and the couple were given the titles of duke and duchess of Windsor. For the next two years they lived mainly in France. On a visit to Germany in 1937, they had a controversial meeting with Adolf Hitler. After the outbreak of war, Edward was appointed governor of the Bahamas. He remained in this post until the end of the war, when he and the duchess returned to France. In the remaining years of his life, the duke paid only short visits to England to attend the funerals of family members, and there continued to be much bitterness between the duke and his family.

Edward died of throat cancer on 28 May 1972 in Paris, and was buried near Windsor. King Edward VIII Abdicated for Love King Edward VIII Abdicated for Love 1930 - 1939 King Edward VIII Abdicated for Love Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (1896-1986) and the Duke of Windsor (1894-1972) outside Goverment House in Nassau, the Bahamas. (circa 1942). (Photo by Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) By Jennifer Rosenberg Updated August 31, 2016. King Edward VIII did something that monarchs do not have the luxury of doing - he fell in love. King Edward was in love with Mrs. Wallis Simpson, not only an American, but also a married woman already once divorced. However, in order to marry the woman he loved, King Edward was willing to give up the British throne - and he did, on December 10, 1936. To some, this was the love story of the century. To others, it was a scandal that threatened to weaken the monarchy.

In reality, the story of King Edward VIII and Mrs. Wallis Simpson never fulfilled either of these notions; instead, the story is about a prince who wanted to be like everyone else. Prince Edward Growing Up - His Struggle Between Royal and Common King Edward VIII was born Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David on June 23, 1894 to the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George V and Queen Mary ). His brother Albert was born a year and a half later, soon followed by a sister, Mary, in April 1897. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge Three more brothers followed: Harry in 1900, George in 1902, and John in 1905 (died at age 14 from epilepsy ). Though his parents surely loved Edward, he thought of them as cold and distant. Edward's father was very strict which caused Edward to fear every call to his father's library, since it usually meant punishment. In May 1907, Edward, only 12 years old, was shipped off to the Naval College at Osborne .

He was at first teased because of his royal identity, but soon garnered acceptance because of his attempt to be treated like any other cadet. After Osborne, Edward continued on to Dartmouth in May 1909. Though Dartmouth was also strict, Edward's stay there was less harsh. During the night on May 6, 1910, King Edward VII, Edward's grandfather who had been outwardly loving to Edward, passed away. Thus, Edward's father became king and Edward became the heir to the throne. In 1911, Edward became the twentieth Prince of Wales. Besides having to learn some Welsh phrases, Edward was to wear a particular costume for the ceremony. [W]hen a tailor appeared to measure me for a fantastic costume . . . of white satin breeches and a mantle and surcoat of purple velvet edged with ermine, I decided things had gone too far. . . . [W]hat would my Navy friends say if they saw me in this preposterous rig?1 Though it is surely a natural feeling of teenagers to want to fit in, this feeling continued to grow in the prince.

Prince Edward began to deplore being set on a pedestal or worshipped - anything that treated him as a "person requiring homage."2 As Prince Edward later wrote in his memoirs: And if my association with the village boys at Sandringham and the cadets of the Naval Colleges had done anything for me, it was to make me desperately anxious to be treated exactly like any other boy of my age.3 World War I In August 1914, when Europe became embroiled in World War I , Prince Edward asked for a commission. The request was granted and Edward was soon posted to the 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. The prince. however, was soon to learn that he was not going to be sent to battle. Prince Edward, extremely disappointed, went to argue his case with Lord Kitchener , the Secretary of State for War. In his argument, Prince Edward told Kitchener that he had four younger brothers who could become heir to the throne if he were killed in battle.

While the prince had given a good argument, Kitchener stated that it was not Edward being killed that prevented him from being sent into battle, but rather, the possibility of the enemy taking the prince as prisoner.4 Though posted far from any battle (he was given a position with Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Sir John French ), the prince did witness some of the horrors of the war. And while he wasn't fighting on the front, Prince Edward won the respect of the common soldier for wanting to be there. Edward Likes Married Women Prince Edward was a very good-looking man. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and a boyish look on his face that lasted his entire life. Yet, for some reason, Prince Edward preferred married women. In 1918, Prince Edward met Mrs. Winifred ("Freda") Dudley Ward . Despite the fact that they were about the same age (23), Freda had been married for five years when they met. For 16 years, Freda was Prince Edward's mistress. Edward also had a long-time relationship with Viscountess Thelma Furness.

On January 10, 1931, Lady Furness hosted a party at her country house, Burrough Court, where, in addition to Prince Edward, Mrs. Wallis Simpson and her husband Ernest Simpson were invited. It was at this party the two first met. Prince Edward was soon to be infatuated with Mrs. Simpson; however, she didn't make a big impression on Edward at their first meeting. Mrs. Wallis Simpson Becomes Edward's Only Mistress Four months later, Edward and Mrs. Wallis Simpson met again and seven months after that the prince had dinner over at the Simpson's house (staying until 4 a.m.). And though Wallis was a frequent guest of Prince Edward's for the next two years, she was not yet the only woman in Edward's life. In January 1934, Thelma Furness made a trip to the United States, entrusting Prince Edward to the care of Wallis in her absence. Upon Thelma's return, she found that she was no longer welcome in Prince Edward's life - even her phone calls were refused. Four months later, Mrs. Dudley Ward was similarly cut out of the prince's life. Mrs.

Wallis Simpson was then the prince's single mistress. Who Was Mrs. Wallis Simpson? Mrs. Wallis Simpson has become an emotional figure in history. Along with this, many descriptions of her personality and motives for being with Edward have caused some extremely negative descriptions; the nicer onces range from witch to seductress. So who really was Mrs. Wallis Simpson? Mrs. Wallis Simpson was born Wallis Warfield on June 19, 1896 in Maryland, United States. Though Wallis came from a distinguished family in the United States, in the United Kingdom being an American was not highly regarded. Unfortunately, Wallis's father died when she was only five months old and left no money; thus his widow was forced to live off the charity given to her by her late husband's brother. As Wallis grew into a young woman, she was not necessarily considered pretty.5 However, Wallis had a sense of style and pose that made her distinguished and attractive. She had radiant eyes, good complexion and fine, smooth black hair which she kept parted down the middle for most of her life.

Wallis' First and Second Marriages On November 8, 1916 Wallis Warfield married Lieutenant Earl Winfield ("Win") Spencer, a pilot for the U.S. Navy. The marriage was reasonably good until the end of World War I, as it was with many ex-soldiers who became bitter at the inconclusiveness of the war and had difficulty adapting back to civilian life. After the armistice, Win began to drink heavily and also became abusive. Wallis eventually left Win and lived six years by herself in Washington. Win and Wallis weren't yet divorced and when Win begged her to rejoin him, this time in China where he had been posted in 1922, she went. Things seemed to be working out until Win started drinking again. This time Wallis left him for good and sued for a divorce, which was granted in December 1927. In July 1928, only six months after her divorce, Wallis married Ernest Simpson, who worked in the family shipping business. After their marriage, they settled down in London. It was with her second husband that Wallis was invited to social parties and invited to Lady Furness's house where she first met Prince Edward.

Who Seduced Whom? While many blame Mrs. Wallis Simpson for seducing the prince, it seems rather more likely that she was herself seduced by the glamor and power of being close to the heir of Britain's throne. At first, Wallis was just glad to have become included in the prince's circle of friends. According to Wallis, it was in August 1934 that their relationship became more serious. During that month, the prince took a cruise on Lord Moyne's yacht, the Rosaura. Although both Simpsons were invited, Ernest Simpson could not accompany his wife on the cruise because of a business trip to the United States. It was on this cruise, Wallis stated, that she and the prince "crossed the line that marks the indefinable boundary between friendship and love."6 Prince Edward became increasingly infatuated with Wallis. But did Wallis love Edward? Again, many people have said that she did not and that she was a calculating woman who either wanted to be queen or who wanted money. It seems more probable that while she was not infatuated with Edward, she loved him.

Edward Becomes King At five minutes to midnight on January 20, 1936, King George V, Edward's father, passed away. Upon King George V's death, Prince Edward became King Edward VIII. To many, Edward's grief over his father's death seemed much greater than the grieving of his mother or his siblings. Though death affects people differently, Edward's grief might have been greater for his father's death also signified his acquisition of the throne, complete with the responsibilities and eminence that he deplored. King Edward VIII didn't win many supporters at the beginning of his reign. His first act as the new king was to order the Sandringham clocks , which were always a half an hour fast, set to the correct time. This symbolized to many a king who was to deal with the trivial and who rejected his father's work. Still, the government and the people of Great Britain had high hopes for King Edward. He had seen war, traveled the world, been to every part of the British empire , seemed sincerely interested in social problems, and had a good memory. So what went wrong? Many things. First, Edward wanted to change many of the rules and become a modern monarch.

Unfortunately, this caused Edward to distrust many of his advisors because he saw them as symbols and perpetuators of the old order. He dismissed many of them. Also, in an effort to reform and curb monetary excesses, he cut the salaries of many royal staff employees to an extreme degree. Employees became unhappy. The king also began to be late or cancel appointments and events at the last minute. State papers that were sent to him were not protected, some statesmen worried that German spies had access to these papers. At first these papers were returned promptly, but soon it would be weeks before they were returned, some of which had obviously not even been looked at. Wallis Distracted the King One of the main reasons he was late or canceled events was because of Mrs. Wallis Simpson. His infatuation with her had grown so extreme that he was severely distracted from his State duties. Some thought she might be a German spy handing State papers over to the German government. The relationship between King Edward and Mrs. Wallis Simpson came to an impasse when the king received a letter from Alexander Hardinge, the king's private secretary, that warned him that the press would not remain silent much longer and that the government might resign en masse if this continued.

King Edward was faced with three options: give up Wallis, keep Wallis and government would resign, or abdicate and give up the throne. Since King Edward had decided that he wanted to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson (he told Walter Monckton that he had decided to marry her as early as 1934), he had little choice but to abdicate.7 King Edward VIII Abdicates Whatever her original motives, until the end, Mrs. Wallis Simpson didn't mean for the king to abdicate. Yet the day soon came when King Edward VIII was to sign the papers that would end his rule. At 10 a.m.

on December 10, 1936, King Edward VIII, surrounded by his three surviving brothers, signed the six copies of the Instrument of Abdication: I, Edward the Eighth, of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Emperor of India, do hereby declare My irrevocable determination to renounce the Throne for Myself and for My descendants, and My desire that effect should be given to this Instrument of Abdication immediately.8 The Duke and Duchess of Windsor At the moment of King Edward VIII's abdication, his brother Albert, the next in line for the throne, became King George VI (Albert was the father of Queen Elizabeth II ). On the same day as the abdication, King George VI bestowed upon Edward the family name of Windsor. Thus, Edward became the Duke of Windsor and when he married, Wallis became the Duchess of Windsor. Mrs. Wallis Simpson sued for a divorce from Ernest Simpson, which was granted, and Wallis and Edward married in a small ceremony on June 3, 1937.

To Edward's great sorrow, he received a letter on the eve of his wedding from King George VI stating that by abdicating, Edward was no longer entitled to the tile "Royal Highness." But, out of generosity for Edward, King George was going to allow Edward the right to hold that title, but not his wife or any children. This greatly pained Edward for the rest of his life, for it was a slight to his new wife. After the abdication, the Duke and Duchess were exiled from Great Britain. Although a number of years had not been established for the exile, many believed it would only last a few years; instead, it lasted their entire lives. Royal family members shunned the couple. The Duke and Duchess lived out most of their lives in France with the exception of a short term in the Bahamas as governor. Edward passed away on May 28, 1972, a month shy of his 78th birthday. Wallis lived for 14 more years, many of which were spent in bed, secluded from the world. She passed away on April 24, 1986, two months shy of 90. 1.

Christopher Warwick, Abdication (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1986) 29. 2. Warwick, Abdication 30. King Edward VIII | Britroyals Died: May 28, 1972 at Paris, aged 77 years, 11 months, and 3 days Buried at: Frogmore Reigned for: 10 months, and 21 days, Abdicated: December 11, 1936 Succeeded by: his brother George VI Eldest son of King George V he was a popular Prince of Wales seen as a handsome young modernising influence on royal institutions. He served in the Army during World War I but was forbidden to go to the front line. He was known as David to his family, but his relationship with his parents deteriorated as he became a celebrity playboy who failed to settle down and had several affairs with married women. He became King Edward VIII in January 1936 on the death of his father George V.

In November 1936 a constitutional crisis arose when Edward wished to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson; it was felt that, as a she had already divorced her first husband and at the time Edward and Wallis had met she was still married to her second husband, she was pursuing the King because of his wealth and position and would be unacceptable as queen. On 11 December Edward abdicated and left for France, where the couple were married in 1937. He was succeeded by his brother Albert as George VI. Edward and Wallis became The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, but were ostracised by his family who felt he had let them down and not done his duty. His views of appeasement on the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy and meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1937 led him to be given the role during World War II of Governor of the Bahamas out of the way of the war effort amid concerns of German plots to kidnap and use him. After the war they became mild celebrities in Europe and America but lived mostly in Paris where he died in 1972. They had no children.

King Edward VIII's Signature Wallis and Edward Story.htm His Majesty King George V THE PLAY The story begins with Wallis Simpson's Presentation at Court in 1931, where she arrogantly presents her credentials in the song I'm Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, followed by her quickly deposing the Prince of Wales' former mistress Lady Thelma Furness. During Wallis' first visit to Edward's home Fort Belvedere, Noel Coward plays a snipit of this own very telling song If Love Were All . On an open invitation to cocktails, the Prince of Wales unexpectedly appears at the Simpson home in Bryanston Court where he crosses the line between friendship and more in the obssessive song Lost In The Blue. More frivolous partying at Fort Belvedere slithers into the fast-paced song Trend Setters where as international fashion icons we find they are so shallow that the only thing that matters is that they are the people everyone wants to be, and the people that everyone wants to see! The exposure of Wallis' dark side is revealed to King George V and the Royal Family, through the China Dossier, by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and his proffering of ideas on how to rid England of Mrs.

Simpson, by calling upon all of the famous murderers and murderesses of history to come and do away with her in the comic ditty She's Got To Go (They Poison Popes Don't They?) ... all of which comes to naught following King George V's untimely demise. From the Proclamation of Accession of King Edward VIII, and his bartering of Wallis with husband Ernest Simpson in time for Wallis to, hopefully, be crowned Queen of England, and Wallis' self-proclaiming anthem - Going To Be Queen! To the fateful Nahlin Cruise where the world becames aware of their disastrous affair, and King Edward becomes a dangerous political dablatant amongst Eastern Europe's and Asia Minor's potentates in the song Positively Perfect Holiday Trip!

His Majesty King Edward VIII Proclamation of Accession of His Majesty King Edward VIII Prince of Wales with Lady Thelma Furness and His Caim Terriers Cora and Jaggs at York Cottage c1930 1936 The Year of the Three Kings - George V, George VI and Edward VIII His Royal Highness the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin Wallis' preliminary divorce comes through, and without wasting a moment King Edward pops the Mogul emerald engagement ring that evening, after which Wallis reiterates her right to be Queen, as being ordained, in the reprise of I'm Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson. Their Suggested Morganatic marriage proposal is refused by Parliament and the Dominions. Crisis! The silence of the British press on their affair breaks! Drop Mrs. Simpson, marry her and the government will resign bringing about a possible fascist regime in England - or abdicate!

Meanwhile, in the vein of Osbert Sitwell's infamous essay and poem - Rat Week - about changing sides and allegiances, getting out while one still can and still save face, we find Lady Emerald Cunard and Lady Sybil Colefax singing the scathing double entendre diatribe Last Two Rats, in which Wallis Simpson is the sinking ship they need to abandon! Hoping desperately to crawl, unnoticed, aboard the about to be launched ship of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, so to speak! Wallis flees to France. As the Cross Channel Ferry departs England for France with his beloved Wallis, Edward sings - if you love something set it free, if it doesn't come back to you, it was never meant to be - in the poignantly blue As It Was Meant To Be. As Wallis dodges the ensuing reporters in France, enroute to The Riviera, in a phone conversation duet Wallis reminds Edward to Do What's Right For You, him being the only one that can make the decision to abdicate.

King Edward confronts his family with his Irrevocable Decision where we find out that his sister-in-law isn't at all opposed to taking over, in the reprise of Going To Be Queen! King Edward VIII says goodbye to the Throne and the world in his legendary Abdication Address, while Wallis in Southern France realizes that she has placed all her holdings on a horse that not only didn't show, but refused to run, as she sings I've Gambled All My Life. Momentary exile, five months, at which time, the now Duke of Windsor reveals to Wallis I Love You More Than You Love Me, in the ultimate song about obssession! Wallis' divorce is final. In planning their honeymoon, they decide to go where anyone would go - to visit Hitler in Berlin - Hitler even questions their motives in his brilliantly manipulative Hitlerspiel about evil doers... Niggers, Pansies And Jews! Wedding Day, June 3, 1937 - the first day of the rest of their life in permanent exile!

Meanwhile, the Elder Duchess in Paris in 1973, a year after the Duke of Windsor's death, has had her carefully chosen input since the beginning of the show, continuing to manipulate their story - in an attempt to refocus the years of blame! Singing I'd Rather Be Remembered, the Elder Wallis wants us to forget all that we've witnessed and remember her as someone who, always, only meant to do good! Prince Paul, Regent of Yugoslavia, and Princess Olga Edward, Prince of Wales, with Wallis and Ernest Simpson in Venice c 1934 King Edward VIII tours Sibenik, Yugoslavia with his assistant private secretary Tommy Lascelles before boarding the Nahlin.

Dickie Mountbatten escorts the Duchess of Windsor from Heathrow Airport to Buckingham Palace prior to the Duke of Windsor's 1972 funeral Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII touring Athens during the fateful Nahlin cruise King Edward VIII bored and improperly dressed for a State Occasion, receives debutantes during their Presentation at Court, Buckingham Palace Garden, 21 July 1936 Lord and Lady Dickie Mountbatten with Best Man His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales 45 Duke and Duchess of Windsor near the end of their honeymoon, with Fern and Charles Bedaux at their home Borsod-Ivana in Hungary, before leaving for Berlin to visit Hitler, October 1937 46 The Chateau de Cande 47 Wallis Simpson, Aunt Bessie Merriman and Ernest Simpson at Baden-Baden c 1930 48 Duke of Windsor, having disembarked the Orient Express, is crossing the tracks at Verneuil l'Etang, France enroute to Wallis at the Chateau de Cande following his exile in Austria, 4 May 1937 49 Queen Elizabeth II, the Duchess of Windsor and Prince Phillip leaving St.

George's Chapel after the funeral of the Duke of Windsor, 5 June 1972 The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Edward VIII Speech - Abdicating the Throne Edward VIII (1894-1972) became King of England upon the death of his father, George V, on January 20, 1936. Nearly 42-years-old and a bachelor, Edward then made known his desire to marry an American woman named Wallis Warfield Simpson, whom he had known since 1931. He sought the approval of his family, the Church of England, and the political establishment to marry her, but met with strong opposition. She had been married twice before and her second divorce was still pending. The love affair and possible royal marriage resulted in sensational newspaper headlines around the world and created a storm of controversy, but did not sway Edward. On December 10, 1936, King Edward VIII submitted his abdication and it was endorsed by Parliament the next day. He thus became the only British monarch ever to resign voluntarily. The speech below is from December 11th, when Edward publicly announced his decision via radio to a worldwide audience.

His younger brother, George VI, took the throne and immediately gave Edward the title, Duke of Windsor. The Duke and Simpson were married in France on June 3, 1937 and lived in Paris. During World War II, Edward served as governor of the Bahamas. He died in Paris on May 28, 1972. His wife died there, April 24, 1986. At long last I am able to say a few words of my own. I have never wanted to withhold anything, but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak. A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart. You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire, which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.

But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love. And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course. I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of what would, in the end, be best for all. This decision has been made less difficult to me by the sure knowledge that my brother, with his long training in the public affairs of this country and with his fine qualities, will be able to take my place forthwith without interruption or injury to the life and progress of the empire. And he has one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you, and not bestowed on me -- a happy home with his wife and children. During these hard days I have been comforted by her majesty my mother and by my family. The ministers of the crown, and in particular, Mr.

Baldwin, the Prime Minister, have always treated me with full consideration. There has never been any constitutional difference between me and them, and between me and Parliament. Bred in the constitutional tradition by my father, I should never have allowed any such issue to arise. Ever since I was Prince of Wales, and later on when I occupied the throne, I have been treated with the greatest kindness by all classes of the people wherever I have lived or journeyed throughout the empire. For that I am very grateful. I now quit altogether public affairs and I lay down my burden. It may be some time before I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British race and empire with profound interest, and if at any time in the future I can be found of service to his majesty in a private station, I shall not fail. And now, we all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and prosperity with all my heart. God bless you all! God save the King!

Edward VIII - December 11, 1936 The Duke of Windsor Dies at 77 The Duke of Windsor Dies at 77 By Reuters LONDON, Sunday, May 28--The Duke of Windsor, who gave up the British throne in 1936 to marry an American divorcee, died in his home near Paris early today, a Buckingham Palace spokesman announced here. The Duke was 77 years old. A statement from Buckingham Place, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth, the Duke's niece said: "It is announced with deep regret that his Royal Highness, the Duke of Windsor, has died at his home in Paris at 2:25 A.M., Sunday, May 28, 1972. "A further announcement from the Palace will be made later about the funeral arrangements." The death announcement reached New York shortly after 1:10 A.M. Eastern daylight time. The Duke, who reigned for 10 months as King Edward VIII before abdicating, had been ill for some time. The Duke defied the British Establishment to marry Mrs. Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, a twice-divorced American.

The couple lived in virtual self-exile from Britain since the abdication. Queen Elizabeth visited her ailing uncle at his Paris home during her state visit to France earlier this month. The Duke, who would have been 78 on June 23, was too ill to leave the first-floor sitting room of the house overlooking the Bois de Boulogne. The Duke underwent a hernia operation earlier this year. One of his personal physicians, Dr. Arthur Antenucci, of the Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, flew to Paris to see him two days ago. In Paris, a spokesman for the Duke said: "He died peacefully." Asked what had been the cause of death, the spokesman--the Duke's longtime secretary, John Utter--said: "Just natural causes." Two weeks before the Queen, Prince Phillip and the Prince of Wales made their teatime call on the Duke and Duchess at their home near Longchamp Racecourse during the royal visit to France this month, the Duke was reported to be "in need of a long rest." After the 40-minute royal visit, the Duke was said to be in good spirits.

Later the Duke's secretary said he was being treated at home for an illness, but its nature and his treatment were not disclosed. Abdicated in 1936 "But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love." With these words, delivered with sadness over the radio on Dec. 11, 1936, to his subjects in Britain, Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, became the first monarch in British history to voluntarily abdicate his throne, which he did 11 months after assuming it. A popular king, Edward VIII touched off a sensation at home and abroad with the announcement that he intended to leave the throne to marry Mrs. Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American who had been twice divorced. 'I Lay Down My Burden' Edward had been determined to marry Mrs. Simpson, although Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin had tried to dissuade him, on the ground that the King, as head of the Church of England, would be violating the church's doctrines against divorce.

In the absence of legislation that would permit the marriage, King Edward chose to abdicate. He was succeeded by his brother, the Duke of York, who became King George VI. The new King made his predecessor the Duke of Windsor. "I now quit altogether public affairs, and I lay down my burden," Edward said in his broadcast the day after the act of abdication had been signed. Then, on Dec. 12, at 2 A.M., he left England. He married Mrs. Simpson six months later in France. He remained in virtual exile from Britain ever since, estranged from the royal family until recently. It was not until 1965 that Queen Elizabeth II met the Duchess of Windsor at the bedside of the Duke while he was in London for eye operations. Two years later, the Duke and Duchess were formally received by the Queen at a memorial ceremony for Edward's mother, Queen Mary. Last May 18, Queen Elizabeth visited her ailing uncle at his Paris home. After the abdication, the Duke and Duchess attracted wide publicity as they traveled about. They often attended charity balls and other events in New York, where they stayed at the Waldorf- Astoria.

The Duke performed some official duties in World War II, when he was appointed governor and commander in chief of the Bahamas. Called David at Home Much of the time in recent years was spent at their home in the Bois du Boulogne on the edge of Paris, where the Duke enjoyed gardening and occasionally received visitors, including Emperor Hirohito of Japan on his world tour last year. Edward was born on June 23, 1894, in the 57th year of the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His mother was the former Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, later to be Queen Mary, and his father was the Duke of York, later to become King George V. He was christened Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David of the House of Saxe- Coburg-Gotha. In 1917, George V renounced the German name and proclaimed it the House of Windsor. Edward--whom the royal family referred to by his last given name, David--spent much of his childhood at Sandringham in Norfolk, in a household where his father insisted on stern discipline.

"I have often thought," the Duke later wrote, "that my father liked children only in the abstract." Served in France In 1907, Edward entered the Royal Naval College at Osborne on the Isle of Wight, where the discipline was rigorous. With the death of his grandfather, Edward VII, in 1910, and the ascension of George V, Edward became heir apparent and was sent to Magdalen College at Oxford for a broader education. Edward did not excel in academics, but he enjoyed college life, engaging in such extracurricular pursuits as dancing and playing the banjo. When World War I began, he was transferred to the Grenadier Guards. As a result of his own persistence he was eventually sent to France, where he served on the staff of the commander of the British Expeditionary Force. He was never permitted on the front lines for long, but was under fire several times. After the war, the Prince of Wales took a series of royal tours around the world that attracted great attention. He was accorded a particularly thunderous welcome in New York in 1919, and newspapers carried headlines stressing his eligibility as a bachelor.

The Prince's genuine friendliness, which allowed him to mingle with people, combined with a somewhat shy, almost wistful manner, convinced those who saw him that he would be a popular king. In 1930 the Prince met Mrs. Ernest Simpson, wife of an American maritime broker. Mrs. Simpson's first marriage, to E. Winfield Spencer, had ended in divorce. "In character," the Duke later wrote in his memoirs, "Wallis was, and still remains, complex and elusive, and from the first I looked upon her as the most independent woman I had ever met. This refreshing trait I was inclined to put down as one of the happier outcomes of the events of 1776." About the time that the Prince of Wales decided that he wanted to marry Mrs. Simpson, his father, George V, died, on Jan. 20, 1936. Two days later, Edward VIII was proclaimed King. In his 11 months on the throne, Edward made it clear through his personal style that his would be an unorthodox approach to the monarchy. But as it became clear that a marriage to Mrs.

Simpson, who had received a preliminary divorce decree that October, could not be accommodated with his own position, Edward VIII decided to abdicate before his coronation. The marriage took place June 3, 1937, at the Chateau de Cande at Monts, near Tours, France. "I did not value the crown so lightly that I gave it away hastily," he later explained. "I valued it so deeply that I surrendered it, rather than risk any impairment of its prestige." Edward VIII facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Edward VIII COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Edward VIII Edward VIII (1894-1972) was King of England for only one year, 1936, abdicating the throne to marry the "woman I love," the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson. He was Duke of Windsor after his abdication. The eldest son of George, Duke of York, and his wife, Princess Mary of Tech, Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David was born on June 23, 1894, at Richmond Park, Surrey.

Upon the death of the gregarious Edward VII in May 1910, the young Prince's father became George V and Prince Edward became the heir to the throne. The new king and queen were strict, serious, and self-disciplined parents who sought to imbue their children with a strong sense of duty. In order to prepare Prince Edward for his future responsibilities, his parents decided to have him trained for the Royal Navy. Accordingly, he was sent to Osborne in 1907 and from 1909 to 1911 attended the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. There he was treated like the other cadets, a novel situation which he much enjoyed. In 1911 he was invested as Prince of Wales in an impressive ceremony at Caernarvon Castle, Wales. To complete his education he was sent to Oxford in 1912, where he studied—not very strenuously—until the outbreak of World War I. During the war the prince served as an aide-de-camp to the commander in chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France, Gen. Sir John French.

Although he was in a position of considerable trust, he was gravely disappointed that he was not allowed to be sent to the front. "What difference does it make if I am killed?" he asked. "The King has three other sons." His observation of the conduct of the war and the death and devastation which it caused affected him deeply, as it did many other members of his generation, making him loathe war and desire constructive social change. Conduct as Prince After the war the prince began his true career as prince of Wales, participating in many royal ceremonial duties and, by touring the dominions and other countries, serving as a goodwill ambassador. Prince Edward filled the role admirably: he was probably history's most popular prince of Wales up to that time—a handsome, sociable, debonair young man with considerable charm and a skilled conversationalist endowed with a natural and spontaneous, if rather superficial, sympathy. His activities were recorded enthusiastically in the press, and he was accorded a status very like that of a rock idol of the 1980s, complete with a sycophantic entourage and groupies. As the heir apparent to the world's most prestigious constitutional monarchy, he was expected to be both discreet and wise.

As he was naturally neither, his activities sometimes caused friction between him and his parents. His expression of compassion for the wretched unemployed miners of Wales ("Something must be done") for example, earned his father's disapproval because of its possible political implications. His parents also strongly disapproved of the rather "fast" and trendy company he kept and of his unfortunate tendency to fall in love with married women. In June 1931 Prince Edward met Wallis Warfield Simpson, the 33-year-old wife of a well-to-do American-born British subject, Ernest Simpson. Wallis Simpson herself was American-born and bred and grew up in a wealthy Maryland family. She was sent to private schools and made her debut in Baltimore in 1914. In 1916 she married a Navy pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Earl Spenser Junior. The marriage was not a success, and after separations and attempts at reconciliation it ended in divorce in 1927. While touring Europe with her aunt, Wallis met London resident Ernest Simpson and they were married in 1928. Wallis adjusted quickly to life as a wealthy wife in London and became a fashionable hostess.

As they moved in the same social circles, it was inevitable that she and the Prince of Wales should meet, and when they did, an immediate friendship sprang up between them which rapidly became a love affair of great intensity. Although their relationship was an open secret in royal and fashionable upper class circles and was the subject of some comment in the foreign press, the British press maintained a decorous and self-imposed silence on the subject. The Abdication Crisis When George V died on January 20, 1936, Prince Edward became King Edward VIII. Despite his family's disapproval (because the monarch is the head of the Church of England and also is seen to serve as the exemplar of the British way of life, with an emphasis on domesticity and morality), King Edward continued his liaison with Mrs. Simpson. Their vacation together aboard a yacht in the summer of 1936 was sensationally reported in the foreign press and caused considerable anxiety in British royal and governmental circles. The crisis began in October 1936, when Wallis Simpson was granted a decree nisi—a divorce which would become final in six months—from Ernest Simpson.

A few weeks later the king told the prime minister, the staid Conservative Stanley Baldwin, that he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson and that if he could not do so and remain king, he was "prepared to go." The prime minister, with the support of the cabinet, the hierarchy of the Church of England, the rest of the royal family, and the bulk of public opinion at home and in the dominions, told the king he could not, as King of England, marry a woman who was twice divorced. The king, with some support from a "King's Party" consisting of Winston Churchill and press magnates Lords Beaverbrook and Rothermere, hoped he could, and desparately sought a solution. The idea of a morganatic marriage, in which the king would legally marry a woman who would not be raised to his royal rank, was suggested but ultimately rejected as being a concept alien to the English constitution. Finally, on December 10, 1936, after days of wild newspaper speculation about the constitutional crisis, the king abdicated.

He could not, as he said in his famous radio speech on December 11, 1936, continue to perform his duties without the support of the "woman I love," and he left the throne to his brother, who became George VI. Throughout the crisis Edward, separated, if only temporarily, from his beloved Wallis, plagued by the controversies reported in the press, unable to find (or unwilling to listen to) wise advisers, and under great stress, acted inconsistently and unwisely. And if no other vindication for the views and actions of Baldwin and his party existed, it would be enough that the abdication of a popular king was accepted by the public so calmly and the succession of a new monarch occurred so smoothly. Edward lived for another 35 years, but the rest of his life, though far from uneventful, served as an epilogue to the abdication crisis. He left England for Europe immediately after the abdication and, as soon as her divorce became final, married Wallis on June 3, 1937.

Edward was created duke of Windsor upon his brother's succession; several months later he—but not his wife—was granted the title of "Royal Highness," a slight which hurt the duke deeply and which he continued to feel for the rest of his life. After their marriage the duke and duchess lived in considerable style in France, where they bought a villa on the Riviera. In 1937 they made a much-publicized trip to Hitler's Germany. Although the duke's purpose—to view German labor conditions, a topic in which he had been much interested since his Prince of Wales days—was blameless, and although he was not the only prominent Englishman to visit and even to express admiration for German efficiency in the mid-1930s, he was at the time and thereafter blamed for being sympathetic to the Nazi cause. Service in World War II Upon the outbreak of World War II the duke hurried to England to offer his services to the government. Then, as later, the government did not quite know what to do with him. He had left the throne under something of a cloud, and he was estranged from his family. After some hesitation he was given the job of liaison officer between the British and French high commands in France.

He retained this position until shortly before the fall of France, when he fled with his wife first to Spain and then to Portugal. While in the Iberian Peninsula in the summer of 1940 he was the subject of much Nazi interest. A shadowy plot was hatched through which the Nazis hoped to use the duke, whom they felt was a friend of Germany, to overthrow the British government. The details of the plot and the duke's part in it—or even his awareness of it—remain obscure, and on August 1, 1940, the duke and duchess sailed for the Bahamas, of which the duke had been appointed governor and where they remained until 1945. After the war the Windsors returned to Europe and lived as international jet-setters. They were, by all accounts, a devoted couple. They had a home in Paris, a country house outside Paris, wintered in Biarritz, and spent several months every year in New York. The duke had much leisure to pursue his interests, which included golf and gardening, and the duchess, whose interests were mainly social, entertained and was entertained frequently.

In 1951 he published A King's Story, his version of the abdication crisis. Her autobiography, The Heart Has Its Reasons, appeared in 1956. In 1972, while dying from throat cancer, the duke was reconciled with his family at last. His niece, Queen Elizabeth II, with her husband and oldest son, came to visit the duke and duchess in Paris. He died a few days later, on May 28, 1972, and was buried at Windsor. At the funeral his wife was scrupulously accorded the respect appropriate to her rank. The duchess returned to France immediately after the funeral, where she, increasingly infirm, retired from all active life. She died April 24, 1986. Further Reading There is a wealth of material on the Duke of Windsor— biographies, autobiographies, and monographs—much of it poorly researched. The best place to start is with the duke's autobiography, A King's Story (1951), and with the duchess's The Heart Has Its Reasons (1956), which present their views on the abdication crisis.

Many books simply and uncritically glamorize the story, such as Geoffrey Dennis' Coronation Commentary (1937) and Ursula Bloom's The Duke of Windsor (1972). Of greater interest because of his personal participation in the events of 1936, but still flattering to the duke, is Lord Beaverbrook's The Abdication of King Edward VIII (1966). Highly readable but superficial, The Woman He Loved, by Ralph G. Martin, was published in 1973. Books expressing views critical of the duke have been published since the 1930s. Among these are Hector Bolitho's King Edward VIII: An Intimate Biography (1937) and Brian Inglis' Abdication (1966). Frances Donaldson's Edward VIII (1974) is a learned, well-documented biography based on many primary sources and interviews which provides a portrait of a man who was stubbornly wrong-headed and almost self-destructively unwise. Two books on the duke are concerned with his relationship with the Nazis in 1940.

Peter Allen's The Crown and the Swastika: Hitler, Hess and the Duke of Windsor (1983) takes an extreme view of the duke's activities, charging him with either treason or nearly criminal stupidity. Michael Bloch's Operation Willi: The Plot to Kidnap the Duke of Windsor July 1940 (1984) is a detailed and interesting account of the events of July 1940 in which the duke is depicted as a loyal Briton but an unwise and indecisive man. Bloch also edited Wallis and Edward Letters, 1931-1937: The Intimate Correspondence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (1986). Additional Sources The Oxford Companion to British History © The Oxford Companion to British History 2002, originally published by Oxford University Press 2002. Edward VIII (1894–1972), king of Great Britain and Ireland , emperor of India (1936). Edward was the eldest son of George, duke of York, later King George V. His parents were strict disciplinarians, and his private tuition was seriously deficient.

But an easy-going manner and outward-looking personality more than counterbalanced these disadvantages. A brief period at Oxford was followed by non-combatant but arduous service in the British Expeditionary Force in France . As heir to the throne he was not permitted to serve in the front line, but none the less courted danger—and achieved genuine popularity—in visiting the troops, sharing their cigarettes, and listening to their stories. Edward, much like his grandfather Edward VII, was ‘one of the boys’, able to communicate with ordinary people at their level—a refreshing antidote to the austere George V and the prudish Queen Mary. In 1919, at Lloyd George's suggestion, he undertook a tour of Canada and the USA; in 1920 he visited Australia and New Zealand , and toured India and the Far East in 1921–2; in 1925 and 1931 he journeyed to South America . All these voyages were resounding successes, demonstrating that the British monarchy took its imperial role seriously. But Edward had two weaknesses. Each, by itself, need not have been constitutionally fatal: together, they cost him his throne.

Edward was a notorious ‘ladies' man’, engaging in a succession of sexual liaisons with married women, one of whom, Lady Furness, introduced him to Mrs Wallis Simpson , with whom he became infatuated. He also revelled in his assumed role as the champion of the common man. He made it his business to visit the depressed areas, and his public statements, though they could be construed as nothing more than sympathy for the plight of the deprived, might also be interpreted as critical of current social and economic policy, and thus as political pronouncements. Most famous, or infamous, in this category was a donation of £10 he made to a relief fund set up for the miners after the collapse of the General Strike (1926) had left them at the mercy of the coal-owners. The donation was made (the covering letter explained), because ‘it would be an unsatisfactory end to any dispute that one side should have to give in on account of the sufferings of their dependants’. Never before—or since—has the heir to the throne made such a blatant intervention in a matter of public controversy.

The altruism and generosity of the donation may be applauded, but it made Edward many enemies within the Conservative Party (then in office), and marked him out as a future monarch whose judgement (as they saw it) could no more be trusted in matters of constitutional propriety than in matters pertaining to the sanctity of the marriage contract. Edward's infatuation with Mrs Simpson was not reported in the British press, but within ruling circles was a matter of common knowledge. Wallis came from humble stock in Baltimore . Her first marriage, to an American naval officer, had ended in divorce; she married again, to an English businessman, Ernest Simpson, and lived in London. She lacked beauty, but compensated with sophistication, charm, and measured informality. Edward was not content to have her as a mistress. He determined to make her his wife. Mr Simpson acquiesced in a divorce, which was granted nisi, at Ipswich, at the end of October 1936. By then Edward had been on the throne for nine months. His brief reign was dominated by ‘the King's matter’. Stanley Baldwin , the prime minister, advised that a marriage to Mrs Simpson would not be popular.

Whilst it is impossible to test the truth of this statement, and whilst the king could certainly have married his mistress and insisted on retaining his throne, had he wished, it is equally true that some of those who supported him, such as the British Union of Fascists , were peripheral elements in British public life, whilst others, such as Winston Churchill , were mavericks. It was not so much that Mrs Simpson was a commoner: rather, she was an American, twice-divorced commoner. Edward's suggestion that a morganatic marriage be contracted—she would be his wife but not his queen—was counter-productive, since it implied that she was unfit to be queen. Rank-and-file Conservatives regarded the king's morals as an affront to Christian values; but unlike his grandfather, he now proposed to compound sin by marrying the mistress whose bed he shared. They were reminded, too, of his embarrassing political interventions. During a visit to south Wales , in mid-November 1936, the king fuelled this prejudice by remarking, in relation to the unemployed, that ‘something must be done to find them work’—a comment widely interpreted as an attack on Conservative economic policy.

Baldwin was not prepared to countenance a morganatic marriage; neither was Attlee , the Labour leader, nor were the dominion prime ministers. On 10 December Edward signed the instrument of abdication, and ceased to be king the following day, when he and Wallis travelled to France, where they were married by a Church of England parson acting without his bishop's authority. The new king, Edward's younger brother George, agreed to confer on him the title duke of Windsor; but Wallis was not permitted officially to call herself HRH. Relations between Edward and the royal family were, and remained, bitter. It was said that he had brought the monarchy into disrepute, and it was also feared that he would be regarded as a king in exile, and a threat to his brother. Edward's much publicized visit to Hitler (October 1937) was not so much sinister as naïve. None the less, when Edward and Wallis fled to fascist Spain after the fall of France, Churchill, now prime minister, packed them off to the Bahamas, of which Edward became governor. His wartime meetings with American President F. D. Roosevelt caused further embarrassments.

But when, following his death in Paris , he was buried in the royal mausoleum at Frogmore, Wallis was permitted to be present at the interment. Edward was a weak and in some important respects a selfish man. His political judgement was unsound, but there is probably some truth in the view that during the inter-war period he gave the British monarchy the human face so lacking in his austere, class-prejudiced parents. Geoffrey Alderman The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright The Columbia University Press Edward VIII, 1894–1972, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1936), known in later years as the duke of Windsor; eldest son of George V . He attended the naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth and Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1911 he was made prince of Wales. During World War I he served as a staff officer in France, Italy, and Egypt. Between 1919 and 1936 he made state trips to the United States, Japan, South America, and the dominions. On the death of his father (Jan., 1936), Edward succeeded to the throne.

He enjoyed immense popularity with his subjects until the crisis precipitated by the announcement of his intention to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson (see Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of ), an American then suing her second husband for divorce. The government, headed by Stanley Baldwin , opposed the marriage, and the issue developed into a struggle between monarch and cabinet. Edward insisted on his right to marry the woman of his choice, even though her marital background made her unacceptable to the public and the government. The government saw in his challenge to its wishes a threat to constitutional procedure. A proposal that there should be some kind of morganatic marriage came to nothing. Since no resolution seemed possible, the king executed a deed of abdication, ending a 325-day reign as the first English monarch to relinquish his throne voluntarily. On Dec. 11, 1936, Parliament passed a bill of abdication, and Edward's younger brother became King George VI . The ex-king was granted the title of duke of Windsor. On June 3, 1937, he married Wallis Warfield in France. In 1937, on a trip to Germany, he visited Adolf Hitler and other Nazi officials.

In World War II the duke went to France as a major general, serving briefly as a liaison officer between British and French headquarters. From 1940 to 1945 he was governor of the Bahamas. After that time he lived in France but traveled a great deal. He died in Paris but was buried at Windsor. See his memoirs, A King's Story (1951); biography by F. Donaldson (1975). Cite this article Royalty.nu - Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor Books Written by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor A King's Story: The Memoirs of the Duke of Windsor by the Duke of Windsor. Written in 1951, in his own hand, the Duke recalls his austere upbringing, his days at Oxford, the Great War, his profound love for Wallis Simpson, and the dilemma that confronted him in the months leading up to his abdication. The Heart Has Its Reasons by the Duchess of Windsor. The memoirs of the woman Edward VIII loved, first published in 1956. Wallis Simpson's Diary edited by Helen Batting.

This diary for 1934 provides insight into the thoughts and lifestyle of a woman who was accused of setting out to steal the throne of England. Books About Edward VIII King Edward VIII: The Official Biography by Philip Ziegler. A study of the life of Edward VIII, from boyhood to Prince of Wales, uncrowned King, in exile, and as governor of the Bahamas. It also examines his relationships with George V, Queen Mary, George VI, Freda Dudley Ward, Wallis Simpson, and Adolf Hitler. Edward VIII: The Uncrowned King by Piers Brendon. Drawing on unpublished material, this biography traces Edward's tumultuous life from bright young prince to troubled sovereign, wartime colonial governor, and sad expatriate. The Playboy Princes: The Apprentice Years of Edward VII and VIII by Peter J. Beer. This dual biography offers a portrait of men living for the moment, knowing that a later life of solemn duty beckons. The Woman Before Wallis: Prince Edward, the Parisian Courtesan, and the Perfect Murder by Andrew Rose. Marguerite Alibert was a beautiful but tough Parisian courtesan who had a tumultuous love affair with the future king Edward VIII.

When she stood trial for her husband's murder, Edward was at risk of having his behavior exposed. The People's King: The True Story of the Abdication by Susan Williams. Through contemporary letters and diaries, this book discusses the huge popularity of King Edward VIII and the events that led to his downfall. Books About the Duke of Windsor 17 Carnations: The Royals, the Nazis and the Biggest Cover-Up in History by Andrew Morton. Looks at the secret ties among Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, the Duke of Windsor, and Adolf Hitler before, during, and after World War II. The Royal Governor.... and the Duchess by Oliver Platt. About the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the Bahamas, 1940-1945. Blood and Fire: The Duke of Windsor and the Strange Murder of Sir Harry Oakes by John Marquis. About a murder that took place when the Duke of Windsor was governor of the Bahamas. This book asks, "Was the Duke a conspirator in a gigantic cover-up? Did he try to execute an innocent man to protect himself and his friends?" Books About the Duchess of Windsor That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anna Sebba.

This biography explores the obsessive nature of Simpson's relationship with Edward VIII, and new evidence that she may never have wanted to marry him at all. Behind Closed Doors: The Tragic, Untold Story of the Duchess of Windsor by Hugo Vickers. Focuses on the Duchess's final years, when according to the author she was a victim of exploitation after the death of her husband. Noblesse Oblige: The Duchess of Windsor as I Knew Her by Richard René Silvin. The author knew the Duchess in her later life, and describes her as a clever, funny, and loving woman. The Duchess of Windsor: The Uncommon Life of Wallis Simpson by Greg King. Biography. Draws on newly declassified documents to chronicle the story of Wallis Simpson from her Pennsylvania birth through her long marriage to the former King Edward VIII, exploring the myths that surround her. The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life by Charles Higham. Very trashy, gossipy biography that repeats every rumor about Edward and Wallis. The Woman He Loved by Ralph G. Martin. Tells the story of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The Duchess of Windsor: An Illustrated Biography by Diana Mosley.

An intimate friend of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Diana Mosley (wife of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley) was a frequent guest at their parties. This book also includes portraits of Mosley's other friends, such as Evelyn Waugh and Lytton Strachey. The Last of the Duchess by Caroline Blackwood. The Duchess of Windsor spent her last days guarded by her lawyer. This book takes the reader behind the facade of the Windsor myth to give an account of the Duchess's life and death. Dancing With the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue by Christopher Wilson. King Edward VIII of England abdicated his throne to marry the woman he loved, but was theirs really a perfect storybook romance? Maybe not, according to this book, which alleges that during their marriage the Duchess of Windsor had a four-year affair with a wealthy gay playboy named Jimmy Donahue -- and that the duke didn't mind. The Private World of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor by Hugo Vickers; photographs by Fritz Von Der Schulenburg. Photos from the private collection of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. 400 color illustrations. Fiction Abdication: A Novel by Juliet Nicolson.

The story of Britain's Abdication Crisis is told through the eyes of fictional characters, including a girlhood friend of Wallis Simpson and a social acquaintance of King Edward VIII. Gone With the Windsors by Laurie Graham. Humorous fictional diary of a social climber who witnesses the romance of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. The Golden Prince by Rebecca Dean. Novel set in 1911 in which the future King Edward VIII has a romance with a high society girl. The Shadow Queen by Rebecca Dean. Novel about Wallis Simpson, the divorced American woman who captured the heart of Britain's King Edward VIII. (Published in the UK as Wallis .) Wallis: My War by Kate Auspitz. A fictional account of the Duchess of Windsor's life, narrated by the Duchess herself.

Question: Who did the former British king, Edward Vlll marry in June 1937?
Answer: Wallis Simpson